Cardiovascular disease frequently arises from the accumulation of atheromatous material on the inner walls of vascular lumens, particularly arterial lumens of the coronary and other vasculature, resulting in a condition known as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis occurs naturally as a result of aging, but may also be aggravated by factors such as diet, hypertension, heredity, vascular injury, and the like. Atheromatous and other vascular deposits restrict blood flow and can cause ischemia which, in acute cases, can result in myocardial infarction. Atheromatous deposits can have widely varying properties, with some deposits being relatively soft and others being fibrous and/or calcified. In the latter case, the deposits are frequently referred to as plaque.
One conventional treatment for cardiovascular disease is the use of stents. Endoluminal stents are commonly used to treat obstructed or weakened body lumens, such as blood vessels and other vascular lumens. Once deployed in the blood vessel, the stent can remain in the body lumen where it will maintain the patency of the lumen and/or support the walls of the lumen which surround it. One factor impeding the success of stent technology in endoluminal treatments is the frequent occurrence of in-stent restenosis, characterized by proliferation and migration of smooth muscle cells within and/or adjacent to the implanted stent, causing reclosure or blockage of the body lumen.
Atherosclerosis and restenosis can be treated in a variety of ways, including drugs, bypass surgery, and a variety of catheter-based approaches which rely on intravascular debulking or removal of the atheromatous or other material occluding a blood vessel. Of particular interest to the present invention, a variety of methods for cutting or dislodging material and removing such material from the blood vessel have been proposed, generally being referred to as atherectomy procedures. Atherectomy catheters intended to excise material from the blood vessel lumen generally employ a rotatable and/or axially translatable cutting blade which can be advanced into or past the occlusive material in order to cut and separate such material from the blood vessel lumen.
There is a need in the art for methods and tools for managing and storing materials removed from body lumens. There is a need in the art for methods and tools for managing and storing information related to and/or derived from materials removed from body lumens.